548 
On Peat Charcoal, 
from 20 to 40 bushels per acre ; when drilled broadcast, from 
100 to 150 bushels will not be a very expensive dressing. 
I have never made any very careful experiments with peat- 
charcoal in comparison with other manures; but if we maybe 
allowed to judge from appearances, the results are evidently satis- 
factory. As an instance, on July 2, 1845, 40 bushels per acre 
of peat-charcoal were drilled with green-top Aberdeen turnips on a 
light sandy loam, the previous crop being rye and vetches mown 
for soihng. The young plants appeared above ground in a short 
space of time, and were singled out within a week, as soon as tur- 
nips of a quicker growing kind that had been drilled twelve days 
earlier with H cwt. of guano mixed with peat-ashes per acre; 
this was on the same description of soil, the previous crop being 
rye fed off with sheep, and the land then manured with 15 cart- 
loads per acre of farm-yard dung ; the other, in addition to the 
peat- charcoal, had been folded. The crops were good, but the 
cost of the peat-charcoal was barely one-half that of the guano, 
without taking into consideration the extra dressing of farm-yard 
manure.* 
This essay is now brought to a conclusion ; and though it is 
imperfect in many respects, yet sufficient has been said on the 
subject to show that, where peat can be conveniently dug, it will 
be to the farmer's advantage to make use of it' as a manure in 
the shape of peat-charcoal : if it is merely used as an addition to 
the solid or liquid manure of the farm-yard, it will amply repay 
the expense of preparation. 
The removal of a bed of peat three or four feet in thickness 
will be no injury to the soil ; where there is a good drainage it 
W'ill in all probability increase the fertility of the land ; and even 
when the water cannot be drained from the hole which has been 
excavated, it may be rendered valuable by being converted into 
a plantation of osiers, or, if water covers the surface, into a pond 
for the cultivation of the common reed (Arundo phragmites), 
which will be invaluable for the purpose of covering farm- build- 
ings. 
Cirencester, Nov. 28, 1846. 
* The crop ol' turnips to which the peat-charcoal was applied in 1845, 
was fed off late iti tlie spring of 184G ; the land ploughed and subsoiled, 
and on May the 9tli (hilled with Belgian carrots ; the seed being mixed 
with 2 bushels per acre of powdered wood charcoal : notwithstanding the 
dry weather the carrots came up well. The produce was about 1200 
bushels per acre, and each bushel of carrots weighing 3 stone 3 lbs., will 
give upwards of 24 tons of roots per acre, exclusive of the tops. The only 
manure, besides the 2 bushels of chaicoal, being the folding of the sheep 
while feeding the previous crop of turnips. 
